Fastest way to Defragment and Scan Disk?

I'm sure this has been answered many times but what is the fastest way to defragment and scan drive for errors? I'm using 98SE and what I currently do is:

1. Start in Safe Mode
2. Turn off Virus scan
3. Turn off screen saver
4. Delete Temporary internet files

Even doing this it seems it takes forever, so I tend to not do it very often. I tried Power Defrag a couple of times and it worked great but the 3rd time I tried it it refused to work. No one would respond from the software maker to help me so I guess that's no longer an option. Is there anything else I can do (it has to be simple to understand) or software out there that works and is easy to use?

Mike

 

Something(s) that will help

1- Stop Taskmanger ( or what ever it is as I forgot ) from loading at startup.

2-- Empty the C:\Windows\Applog folder.

All those things do is to over work defrag by forcing it to re-arrange things everytime you defrag.

And then if you can, get a copy of Windows ME defrag. It is much faster.

BillyBob

 

Thanks BillyBob. My Taskmonitor is already unchecked in Startup and my Applog (whatever that is) is empty.

Should TaskMonitor be enabled in startup for normal everyday use?

How would I get a copy of ME defrag and would it be easy for me to install or use?

 

I never had any problem with not loading Taskmonitor.

As to ME defrag. I went searching and could not find it.

Maybe some one does now where to find it.

BTW. How large is your HD that you are trying to defrag ?

What Virus scanner are you using. If Norton, that cna be a problem.

1. Start in Safe Mode
2. Turn off Virus scan
3. Turn off screen saver
4. Delete Temporary internet files

I never do any of that except the screensaver part.

BillyBob

 

Win ME defrag tool can be d/l'd from Here . Link is about 1/2 way down page.

 

Thanks JohnB .

BB

 

Thanks Guys! I only have a 40g harddrive and I use PC-cillian.

Okay I downloaded the ME Defrag, but before I double click to install, I just want to make sure of something. I'm kind of a novice at this so once I install this I won't have to do anything, is that correct? When I go to "Tools" and click on defrag it will operate as normal using ME, right?

Also how do you speed up Scan Disk, or will ME include a faster version of that also?

Mike

 

If that 40gig is all in one partition I do not think you will get much speed up from even ME Defrag. A little maybe but I do not think that much.

BillyBob

 

"When I go to "Tools" and click on defrag it will operate as normal using ME, right?" Yes .

"Also how do you speed up Scan Disk, or will ME include a faster version of that also?" We cannot and No it doesn't .

If defragging is taking a heck of a long time you may want to consider defragging the files only. Free space will be fragmented but the files will occupy contiguous space. Obviously, this not the way to go if you do not have a lot of free space to start with. Every now and then you can defrag files and space.

This is done via the Run command eg defrag c: /u where /u instructs files only.

I have no experience of this so it is just a thought. Others may have tried this and saw no appreciable time saved?

 

When you defrag - it reorders the information on your HD to place apps that you use more frequently in position for quicker loading. The information about which apps those are is contained in Applog.

By emptying Applog - you are speeding up defrag by side-stepping one of the things a defrag is supposed to do. You may save time in the defrag but your loading and response times may suffer . . .In other words, there is no free lunch!

 

To emptying the Applog folder and speeding up Defrag I agree.

The rest I do not agree with. I do not have Taskmonitor loading. The Applog folder is EMPTY and I see NO LOSS of application speed.

It MIGHT take a few seconds longer to Start an app the first time in a session but the defrag time and wear & tear on the HD saved is worth it. At least to me it is.

BillyBob

 

"In other words, there is no free lunch! "

With modern drives the cost is marginal but was not so when Intel devised the method and that it why it was implemented.

The method is more of a hindrance today than a help.

 

Thanks for all the info. I ended up using" Diskeeper Lite" and let it run over night so don't know how long it took, but it worked. I used "End It All" to disable everything and started Scandisk before I went to work and when I came back there was a screen up (don't remember what) so that stopped things. From point of canceling screen it took 3 or 4 hours, so I guess it went pretty fast.

I know this is not the forum to discuss software, but the thing I liked about Powerdefrag when I could get it to work properly for me, was it did everything automatically. It disabled everything, ran in safe mode, defragged and ran scandisk all with one setting. It did everything very fast, and when done it put everything on your computer back to normal. This is huge for people like me, a novice. Anyway I was hoping there was another program like this out there for me that actually worked everytime.

So thanks again, I've learned alot.

Mike

 

Somthing seems to be not quite right here somewhere.

#1 are my suspicions correct that the 40gig HD is all one partition ?

If so then that may well explain the time required to Scandisk and defrag.

I have a Win98 Machine with a 8.4gig and a 30gig HD with a total of 8 partitions and I can defrag the whole darn works in less the 30 minutes ( tops ) using ME drfrag.

I have this XP machine with an 80gig HD with 6 partions and I can defrag them all using XP defrag ( which is not in anyway a speed demon ) in around 45 minutes.

But VERY seldom do I defrag anything other than the C: drive anyway. Unless I add/remove software. And then only if I think of it.

That is one reason I think Partitioning helps quite a bit. Very seldom does any partition other than he C: drive really need defraging.

Also I never have had to shut anything down to run degrag.

BillyBob

 

Yes it is in one partition. I'm sure having separate partitions is the way to go but I suspect this is way over my capability.

 

It is possible that you just answered the question of slowness.

At least that is my feeeling.

BillyBob

 

There is tuneup.exe in win98 that you run from start-run. I first disable all unnecessary running progs, run JV16tools to cleanup the system (files and registry), then run tuneup. Tuneup starts with diskcleaner, then scandisk then defrag all automatically. You may have when setting up tuneup to alter the default settings in each tool to suit what you feel is best.
I would usually let this run when I'm in bed and the thing is ready in the morning.